Armed Robbers Carry Out Daylight Heist at Bank in Jamshedpur, Flee With Rs 15 Lakh

Jamshedpur: In a brazen daylight robbery, a group of armed criminals looted nearly Rs 15 lakh from a branch of Canara Bank in Baharagora area of East Singhbhum district in Jharkhand on Tuesday afternoon, police officials said.

According to preliminary information, five to six masked men barged into the bank located in the Sakra area around 2 p.m. The criminals, carrying country-made pistols and sharp weapons, threatened bank employees and customers and kept them under fear for nearly 15 minutes while carrying out the robbery.

Police said the robbers arrived on three motorcycles. Four of them entered the bank premises while the remaining two stood guard outside. As soon as they entered, the assailants collected mobile phones from customers and staff to stop them from contacting the police.

During the incident, the robbers allegedly held Assistant Branch Manager Saurabh Verma at gunpoint and asked him to open the lockers. When they were told that the rural branch did not have locker facilities, the criminals reportedly became aggressive and snatched Verma’s gold chain and ring.

The gang then looted about Rs 15 lakh from the cash counter and the cash room before stuffing the money into a bag and fleeing the spot.

Before escaping, the criminals locked the bank’s main gate from outside, leaving employees and customers trapped inside. Police later arrived at the scene, broke the lock and freed those inside the building.

Eyewitnesses said the robbers were speaking in Bengali among themselves while threatening bank staff in Hindi. After leaving the bank, they reportedly threw the seized mobile phones into a nearby field, apparently to slow down any attempt to trace them.

During the robbery, the criminals also tried to take away what they believed was the bank’s hard disk, but it turned out to be an internet device. Branch Manager Nanaji Rao managed to secure the actual hard disk, ensuring that important data remained safe.

Soon after the incident, Ghatsila DSP Ajit Kumar Kujur reached the bank with a police team after local residents alerted authorities.

Police have launched an investigation and are examining CCTV footage from the bank and nearby areas in an effort to identify and track down the suspects.

With inputs from IANS